Allie Will's season ends in NCAA tennis semifinals

Florida junior Allie Will fell short of her goal to win an NCAA individual title on Sunday in a three-set loss to Stanford's Nicole Gibbs.

Will, who is ranked No. 1 in the nation, forced a third set before third-ranked Gibbs earned the victory 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the NCAA Women’s Tennis Singles Championships at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.

"Allie played her best match of the entire tournament,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “It was a great match against Nicole. You have to give a lot of credit to Nicole, she found a way in the third set. There was a pivotal game when she was up 3-1 and made it 4-1. She found a way to get that game and that was the difference. If it had been 3-2 it would have been a different match.

“Allie really made it tough and physical in the second set with some deep, big heavy forehands in the second set and was able to wear Nicole down a little,” Thornqvist added. “Then there was the 10-minute, heat-rule break and I think Nicole got her legs back a bit and got off to a hot start in the third set. I’m really, really proud of Allie. She played better each match during this tournament.''

This was the third collegiate meeting between Will and Gibbs, each of which have gone three sets. Will won this year’s regular-season dual match decision 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 on Feb. 12 in Stanford and Gibbs took last year’s meeting on May 27 in the round of 16 at the 2011 NCAA Singles Championships, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3).

Will ends the season with a 26-3 record, and is 109-13 in her collegiate career.

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